Understanding illness perception in pulmonary tuberculosis patients: One step towards patient-centered care

Assessing the illness perception of patients with tuberculosis (TB) could improve our understanding of their beliefs about disease and help address problems in their health-seeking behavior.

We assessed illness perception in patients with pulmonary TB in association with patients' demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical features.

Adult patients who were newly diagnosed with pulmonary TB at three tertiary hospitals in South Korea were included from November 2016 and September 2018. Participants' illness perception was assessed using the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) at the start of anti-TB treatment.

In total, 390 patients with pulmonary TB completed this survey. The mean BIPQ score was 31.6 ± 13.2, and that was positively correlated with clinical TB scores. Patients were highly concerned about their illness, but believed in the treatment. Unhealthy eating habits were mentioned as the most prevalent perceived cause. Coughing for more than one month and alarming symptoms were significantly associated with BIPQ scores ≥ 33. Non-adherent patients had significantly higher BIPQ scores.

Assessing the illness perceptions of those with severe TB-related symptoms and signs may help to identify TB patients with vulnerable to poor treatment outcomes.